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Less is more, make the "others" work: Harden should hold back in the regular season

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019.

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Should Harden play at a lesser level in the regular season?

  1. Yes, make the “others”, Front Office, and Tillman work for their wins

  2. No, i’d rather not risk missing the playoffs altogether

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  1. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    TL;DR: Harden's greatness hides the problems of this team in the regular season, which ultimately hurts in the playoffs against better teams because the front office is lulled into a distorted view of how good the whole team is. Harden should take it easy in the regular season and force the front office and supporting cast to be better.

    Yes, you heard me right, Harden should not go all out like he normally does in the regular season.

    The sheer volume of his greatness hides way too many fundamental problems with this team. The lack of length, quality size, a good bench, all problems that are distorted because The Beard just racks up wins regardless of who is around him.

    It allows Morey and Tillman to get away with putting scrubs like MCW, Ennis, Green, Bobby Brown, Tarik Black on the roster. Hell, it allowed them to keep a roster spot EMPTY for parts of this season just to avoid the luxury tax.

    It also allows guys like Capela, House, Anderson, and to a lesser extent Gordon and CP3 to chronically underperform and not get any heat for it. It allows and maybe even forces D’antoni to not develop any offensive variety in the regular season because Harden just takes all the responsibility all the time.

    The front office got saved from a lot of sh** this season due solely to Harden. He has to stop letting them off the hook. Force the talent around you to play better and if they don’t, hold the front office responsible for their BS.

    He should go for 25-28 ppg and 7-8 assts. at his level he should be able to do that in his sleep. Nothing more, force your teammates, coaching staff, and the front office to deliver the talent. Then turn it up in the postseason.

    The biggest reason the Rockets lost to the Warriors this year was the supporting cast. Capela turned to dust, House couldn’t stay on the floor, Shumpert was a scrub, and CP looked 44 years old not 34. Meanwhile GS reached deep into the bench and still got production somehow.

    Harden was the leading scorer for 5/6 games this series, and the one game he wasn’t we won (Game 3). His performance is our greatest strength but hides the inherent weaknesses of the team that rears their ugly head in the playoffs. Whether it’s lack of talent, bad coaching, or whatever, these problems rise to the surface against elite teams.
     
    #1 Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019
    Last edited: May 12, 2019
    cbs1507, RocketRed84, BigShasta and 3 others like this.
  2. whiskeyred

    whiskeyred Contributing Member

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    Harden knows exactly what to do, yule c
     
    #2 whiskeyred, May 12, 2019
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  3. John Harvey

    John Harvey Member

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    No. Harden wasn't fatigue. The game is just different in playoffs.
     
    #3 John Harvey, May 12, 2019
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  4. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    I didn't say anything about fatigue
     
    #4 Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019
  5. varughese.arun

    varughese.arun Member

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    I agree, Harden's greatness hides the deficiencies of the team.
     
    #5 varughese.arun, May 12, 2019
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  6. John Harvey

    John Harvey Member

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    tbh I didn't read a word of your post.
     
    #6 John Harvey, May 12, 2019
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  7. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    I see what you’re saying...he had no choice this year because we started out the season 11-14 and then had injury issues

    he masks a lot of issues

    You talk about delivering the talent, but I’m not sure what Morey can really do with no cap space and trash assets. Thank God we were able to get the likes of Austin Rivers and Faried off the buyout market, but how many years are u gonna be relying on buyouts in order to fill out your bench and bring in players that are actually worthy of rotation minutes?
     
    #7 Reeko, May 12, 2019
  8. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    Ya it showed lol

    But long post I get it, I'll put a TL;DR on top
     
    #8 Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019
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  9. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    Ya not saying its easy. Tillman though always has the option to just spend more. But he won't do it if the team is keeping its head above water due to Harden. Let the team hemorrhage a bit, let it bleed and force everyone to step up, from players to the front office to Tillman "Cut their throats" Fertitta.
     
    #9 Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019
  10. pippendagimp

    pippendagimp Member

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    harden should only shoot 70% from the FT line in the reg season so when he misses 5 in game 6 it don't look so bad
     
    #10 pippendagimp, May 12, 2019
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  11. BigShasta

    BigShasta Contributing Member

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    Great post. I agree with everything you wrote. However I’m not entirely sure Harden would be willing to take a backseat to his production. He’s a baller
     
    #11 BigShasta, May 12, 2019
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  12. Mathloom

    Mathloom Shameless Optimist
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    I really wish he would rest 20 games like Kawhi. Pipe dream though.

    I think fans are delusional about where this is headed. If you look at the careers of people who averaged near 10 FT's a game for 5-10 consecutive years, they didn't age well. I always cite Wade as an example, he declined very suddenly.

    Good thing he is taking better care of his health. Next step is for the front office to not accept his insistence on playing crazy minutes + instituting an offense where players who can't break down their man can get points for us via player movement. He's taken a lot of beating, we have to protect him a lot more.
     
    #12 Mathloom, May 12, 2019
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  13. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    Nothing will change
     
    #13 J Sizzle, May 12, 2019
  14. Roxfreak724

    Roxfreak724 Member

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    Ya I don't know either. He definitely won't go for 36 ppg again, so we should see some drop off. But outside of the 4th quarter in close games it would be nice to seen him let the rest of the team figure it out during the regular season. We'll see if his approach changes and how/if the rest of the team responds.
     
    #14 Roxfreak724, May 12, 2019
  15. snowconeman22

    snowconeman22 Member

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    Right idea wrong reason

    The team needs an offensive system . Not a system that is just Harden .

    If harden is scoring 30 points because we are getting him open shots and/or he is cutting to the rim then that's fine

    But 30 points off of 1on1 moves is a recipe for disaster .

    Other guys get to hide a significant part of their repitoire and then bust it out when he need a crucial bucket .

    Harden is the most scouted player in the game .

    In other words .... we are predictable
     
    #15 snowconeman22, May 12, 2019
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  16. junk151

    junk151 Member

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    This made me spit out my lemonade lol
     
    #16 junk151, May 12, 2019
  17. Le$$

    Le$$ Member

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    actually its not in time.

    [​IMG]
     
    #17 Le$$, May 12, 2019
  18. mike2k132

    mike2k132 Member

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    I agree. That's why u need butler...a actually 2 that u can ride like harden
     
    #18 mike2k132, May 12, 2019
  19. topfive

    topfive CF OG

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    [​IMG]
     
    #19 topfive, May 12, 2019
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  20. rocks123

    rocks123 Member

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    the youngsters need to play more for exposure honestly. i never expected house to show up for the play offs because you know he didnt played enough regular season games due to his contract negotiation. you cant just expect a rookie who played barely to just go in the post season all ready and pumped up. its more like am i ready and jittery kind of mode. and you cant expect a team to just show up all consistent in the play off if in the whole season they were all inconsistent. You cant just say oh he will come around. weve seen both cp3 and capela played sub par all season long regardless of the injury. they dont have that switch. they are who they are at this point. if theyre not gonna do a major revamp in the offseason capela and cp3 better up their game in the regular season. if they need to rest then rest but they better be playing great when they are in that damn court.
     
    #20 rocks123, May 12, 2019
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